Don Bradman Cricket 17 | Xbox One

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Cricket is an interesting sport to convey in a video game; do you go full arcade with T20-like fireworks, boundary side hot tubs and constant sixes, or do you go down the route of simulation with rain delays, one-man-and-his-dog crowds and forward defences? Codemasters tried for years with its Brian Lara series (99 on PS1 being the highlight), EA then picked up the baton with mixed success, but nobody has gotten as close to replicating the gentleman's game as Big Ant Studios did with Don Bradman Cricket 14. Can the follow-up build on the promise of the original? Strap on that jock strap and join us at the crease.

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​By Rob Holt

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​@acousticmagic

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Developer: Big
​Ant Studios
Publisher: Tru Blu
Platforms: Xbox One,
​PS4, PC
​Players: 1 - 4

Upon taking a middle-and-leg guard the first thing we noticed were the improved menus, now boasting a FIFA-style tile arrangement with familiar options in quick match, tour, career and competition. The option to play as women’s teams is also a much welcome, long overdue addition.

​The extensive academy creation suite has also been filled out from its basic player/team options with kit logo creation, as well as the option to create your own stadium. The latter is an especially nice touch, even if it is a bit basic (yours truly simply had to recreate Southampton’s majestic Hoglands Park - the scene of my first 50). All of these options allow the player to sidestep the complete lack of licensing, as some of the user created kits and players are brilliant.

With our eye in and first impressions out of the way, let’s get into the real meat of the bat: the gameplay. Anyone familiar with DBC 14 will notice that the graphical style has been changed, and we have to be honest, it’s not for the best. Default players look very bland, animations have gone backwards, stadiums look bare and the pitches themselves don’t look as good as last time around. The silver lining here is an improvement on the stuttering framerate of the original - it’s been as consistent as England’s recent batting collapses on every mode we’ve sampled thus far. The game also suffers from some screen tearing at times, but it’s nothing that affects the actual gameplay.

Bowling has been given a jolly good shine, with the mechanics easier to understand this time around. You select the length you want to bowl, and the type of delivery (swing, seam, slower ball), and then simply pull back before pushing forward on the right stick to release the ball. The latter action is much more forgiving this time too; we’ve been bowling significantly fewer no balls and wides. Spin bowling has changed too, with options to affect the flight and bounce of the ball dramatically improving results. The game’s physics also seem more balanced; we never saw a ball spin during our many hours with DBC 14 but have bowled (and missed whilst batting) some Shane Warne-esque square turners in this year’s edition. Edges have also been much more prevalent, both when bowling and batting, truly reflecting the real game. The ability to appeal for catches and LBWs is still present too, as is the wonderful decision review system.

The brilliant control system is still present, but there are now areas of the pitch that seem impossible to hit, no matter how hard we try...

​Batting is where this version has regressed though, unfortunately. The brilliant control system is still present (left stick controls your feet, right stick controls the bat) but there are now areas of the pitch that seem impossible to hit, no matter how hard we tried - the classical cover drive has completely vanished from this version, and delicate nudges off the legs end up in the same place every time.

The animations for these shots have also gone backwards, the cut shot in particular looking awful when compared with the 2014 edition. It’s also been made apparent that certain shots will result in you getting out every time; never attempt to late cut a spinner (a bread-and-butter shot in the real game and in DBC 14) as you will be caught behind by the gymnastic wicketkeepers without fail. Running between the wickets has also brought about some problems, as on occasion the AI decides to create a mix up, regardless of your button presses - we’ve been run out a few times because of this bug and it is very irritating!

​All of these niggles will hopefully be addressed in future patches (Big Ant are brilliant at fixing bugs and issues), as the core gameplay is still engaging and fun, while the addition of precision shots (hold down the right bumper when playing your shot) is a nice touch for the single-run-loving purist.

Fielding has also been expanded, with the addition of QTE-like reaction catches and stops. If a batsman edges the ball behind you’ll be given a second or two to line up the catching reticle with the area the ball is going to land in. Pull these off and it feels fantastic, fail, and you only have you own sluggish reactions to blame. This feature has been included in cricket games before (Brian Lara 2007, International Cricket 2010) but it really does add immersion and extra skill to this edition of Don Bradman.

The modes and options available are as thorough as the original DBC, with the highlight still being the wonderfully engaging, time dissipating career mode. A lovely improvement from DBC 14 is the inclusion of club cricket. In the original your career began at county level (Hampshire is the CORRECT choice) before progressing to international fixtures. Being able to play for local towns is grand, and it’ll give you a chuckle when the commentator stutters their names out too.

Finding an online match has been an issue for us so far, whether this is down to player numbers or Big Ant’s servers is unclear at this time.

As the bails are removed and we reach the close of play, we have to be honest; we’re slightly disappointed with Don Bradman Cricket 17. Most of what made the original great is still here, but in trying to reach a wider audience DBC 17 prods at a wide one and edges to slip. Here’s hoping Big Ant continue to listen to their community and patch out the bugs and glitches, as if they do, we’ll have the definitive console cricketing experience.

Pros

• Menus are much cleaner
• Maintained career mode depth - village club games are a nice touch
• Streamlined bowling mechanics
• Quick reaction fielding events
• Batting remains challenging and rewarding, in spite of limitations
• Improved framerate

Cons

• Irritating bugs and glitches
• Batting issues
• Ugly graphics
• Game fails to build on DBC 14
• Haven’t been able to find an online game

Score 6/10